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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26084899">The Falls Chapter</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Random_Nerd3/pseuds/Random_Nerd3'>Random_Nerd3</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Mystery Investigators Unite! [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Gravity Falls, Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated (Cartoon 2010)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aftermath, Alternate Universe, Angst, Gen, Himbo Fred Jones, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by Scooby Doo, Minor Original Character(s), Mystery Twins, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Season 2, Road Trips, Scooby and the Gang, Teenage Dipper Pines and Mabel Pines, The Mystery Shack, for all seasons, for both shows, spoiler warning, tags will be changed, the gang are adults who act like children, they're in high school</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 03:14:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,802</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26084899</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Random_Nerd3/pseuds/Random_Nerd3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>While on their road trip Mystery Incorporated begins to unravel the mysteries surrounding a strange town called Gravity Falls. The gang meets the mystery solving duo called the Mystery Twins in California, and quickly discover there might be away to reset the timeline and return home to Crystal Cove.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Daphne Blake &amp; Velma Dinkley &amp; Fred Jones &amp; Norville "Shaggy" Rogers &amp; Scooby Doo, Dipper Pines &amp; Ford Pines &amp; Mabel Pines &amp; Stan Pines, Dipper Pines &amp; Mable Pines, Everyone &amp; Everyone</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Mystery Investigators Unite! [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1893826</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/3968626">Gravity Incorporated</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/RockSunner/pseuds/RockSunner">RockSunner</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Can't stop won't stop.</p><p>No, seriously, this is a problem. I really need to stop joining new fandoms when I've got a dozen wips in my old ones. Hopefully I'll finish this one? Maybe? Idk tbh. This fic will not be abandoned or put up for adoption, it'll just take me longer to upload chapters. I'm sort of basing the gang's personalities off my own interpretation and Mystery Incorporated's version of them. Same with the Gravity Falls characters, though I'm not changing much with them. </p><p>Enjoy!</p><p>R</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Waking with a start Fred took in his surroundings. Rolling to his right he could see Shaggy and Scooby snoring on the bed, the great dane was curled up dutifully at his owner’s feet. They were in the crappy motel room they rented for the night while on the way to the university they learned about at the end of their last world-ending mystery. Fred sighed and leaned his head against the wall, the mattress squeaked under his shifting weight. </span>
  <em>
    <span>This would be horrible to use in a trap,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Fred mused as he tried to remember why he woke up. </span>
  <em>
    <span>You’d have no sneak element at all with these old springs…</span>
  </em>
  <span> His thoughts trailed off as the sound of Shaggy’s steady snoring filled the empty cracks of his mind. “Fred go back to sleep,” Shaggy grumbled in his sleep, pulling a pillow over his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry Shag,” Fred apologized, “I didn’t mean to wake you.” Shaggy’s soft snores filled the room again in response. He glanced at the clock and the time </span>
  <em>
    <span>4:30am</span>
  </em>
  <span> glared back at him in red lights. Sighing, he tried to force himself to relax. Whatever he was feeling, any emotions he had in regards to his not-dad were crashing, and crashing hard. Forcing any thoughts of his not-dad under lock and key behind a booby-trapped door in his mind Fred threw the bug-ridden quilt off of him and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He crossed the room in a few short strides, floorboards cracking as he stepped. Pulling the chain to turn the flickering desk lamp on he gave Shaggy’s bed a quick once over. Once he was positive his friend was sleeping again Fred pulled his laptop out of his bag and powered it up. There was only one thing that could take his mind off of what happened with Nibiru, and that was a mystery. It’s a good thing their next destination seemed to be chock full of them. While plotting their course the gang decided to solve mysteries along the way, and Fred made sure to stop in towns with plenty of mysteries.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on, come on,” Fred muttered, his internet connection was faulty at best. It kept blinking between one and two bars of solid connection. With a stroke of luck he managed to load a search engine. “Eureka!” He exclaimed quietly, punching his fist in the air in silent victory. His fingers started clacking away, searching for any mysteries nearby their motel.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>03 results for mystery+nearby+towns…</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Gravity Falls Mayor Enacts The Never Mind All That Act… Town Weirdness Disappears Overnight</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Mystery Twins Say They’ll Be Back Next Summer</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ghost Haunting Reported At Coolsville Haunted Museum</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a brief moment of hesitation Fred moved the mouse until it hovered over the article about the town called Gravity Falls. As far as he was aware, in the original timeline the town Gravity Falls didn’t exist at all. That in of itself was enough of an excuse to add it on their road trip list. Fred’s curiosity went down a research hole as he continued researching the lore behind Gravity Falls. Most of the articles he uncovered were all written by the same two reporters, a woman named Sandra Jimenz and a man named Toby Determined. According to Sandra’s article, The Nevermind All That Act revoked any mention of the so-called Weirdness on any article whatsoever, but Fred was able to track down a few surviving notations. The second article featured a pair of twin brothers, Ford and Stanley Pines, who left Gravity Falls on a soul-searching mission into the unknown. The other article that appeared featured the farewell of another set of Pines twins, Mabel and Dipper. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Apparently both sets of twins were an integral part of the strange mysteries that happened in Gravity Falls, since they all seemed to center around the tourist trap called the Mystery Shack. In the Farewell Pines article Toby listed the school where the Pines school was going to transfer to in the fall. </span>
  <em>
    <span>They finally had some sort of lead,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Fred thought as he plugged the school into his GPS. Luckily they were closer to the Pines than Gravity Falls itself, so Fred switched around the gang’s destination list. Rubbing his eyes he glanced at the clock and realized it was already eight. He was lucky Shaggy and Scooby were such deep sleepers, but  he knewwthe girls would be up soon. If Daphne figured out he skipped out on another night of sleep she’d be livid. Fred shuddered at the thought of being on the opposite end of Daphne’s wrath. Closing his laptop Fred let out a yawn and figured Daphne might’ve been onto something when she lectured him about his sleep deprivation. Lying back on the bed he faked sleeping until he heard Shaggy moving around in the room. With a painfully fake yawn he pretended to wake up. The bed squeaked again as he leaned over the side to pull on a shirt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Like dude, you look like a zombie," Shaggy said as Fred pulled on a pair of jeans. "and I'm not talking about the Vincent Van Gouhl kind." Fred reached behind his head and scratched the back of his neck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know, it’s just hard to sleep right now…” he trailed off then busied himself with packing up the rest of their stuff, which only ended up being a few sweatshirts and pants. Scooby butted his head against Fred’s leg saying,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rereyone reeds reep red.” Reaching down Fred scratched Scooby between his ears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know Scoob,” he said with a sigh. Just as he pocketed the keys to the mystery machine the girls knocked on their door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I swear boys take longer to get ready than girls!” Velma exclaimed, sitting on the foot of Shaggy’s bed. Fred couldn’t help but grin as Velma and Shaggy fell into a familiar pattern of bickering. Sneaking up behind him Daphne wrapped her arms around his neck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where are we going next Fred?” She asked, peering over his shoulder to look at the still-open computer screen. In the reflection of the computer Fred saw her frown. “Did you get </span>
  <em>
    <span>any</span>
  </em>
  <span> sleep last night?” Daphne asked half-scolding him. Before Fred could answer Shaggy called out,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No!” then Shaggy yelped when Velma whacked his arm with her hand. Daphne sighed, reaching up she brushed loose strands of hair away from his face. Fred couldn’t help but lean into the touch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fred, maybe we should put mysteries on hold for a while.” Daphne said before he could tell them about Gravity Falls. “Just until we can get used to living in a different universe than our original one.” Fred sunk into the desk chair. Shaking his head he clicked through the articles he looked at last night.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can yell at me about my sleep deprivation later,” Fred said, “I think we’ve got a new mystery on our hands!” He exclaimed, pulling up buried pictures of gnomes and three headed bears. “And get this, the two people who investigated the mysteries in Gravity Falls only live an hour away!” Fred pulled up google maps and plugged in the school’s address to show them. Reading over Fred’s shoulder Daphne said,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gravity Falls have the Pines to thank. Without them Gideon Gleeful would’ve… taken over the town?” Fred nodded and Velma crossed the room then picked up the computer to see for herself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hmm,” she mused as she clicked through article after article. “It does seem like something we would’ve looked into in the old timeline.” She said, and Fred knew he had her hooked. “That Gideon Gleeful article was old though, look at the date. It was written a few months ago.” </span>
  <span></span><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“And like, get this,” Shaggy said, taking the laptop from Velma. “Anything weird about the town vanished overnight. Look at what date Sandra said the weirdness disappeared!” He zoomed in on the article so they could all read the date. Daphne gasped,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s the same day we had to fight the Evil Entity.” Velma gasped,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It says here they’ve got some mad scientists and inventors in Gravity Falls. Maybe the Pines twins can help us figure out a way to get home.” Fred nodded, that was his plan. Out of everyone in the gang, his life was altered the worst. His not-dad was never his not-dad, which meant in this universe he wasn’t Fred </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jones</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he was Fred Chiles. The name just sent shivers down his spine whenever he thought it. Knowing what his parents did… what they were capable of… it wasn’t really going to bode well if they stayed in Crystal Cove any longer than the gang already did. Daphne gave his shoulder a supportive squeeze then addressed the whole group,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If we leave now we can beat out traffic.” Shaggy shrugged,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s cool with me daddio. Like, as long as Scooby and I can get something before we leave we’re good.” Fred couldn’t help but grin as he shouldered his duffle bag. Maybe this new universe wasn’t as different as theirs was… if there was the potential of trapping something it couldn’t be all that bad, right?</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dipper tries to adjust to a 'normal' life when starting high school. Luckily his life doesn't remain normal for long, turns out he and Mabel have an Aunt Daphne they've never met before.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The ticking of the clock echoed in Dipper’s ears like a drum beat. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It was only the third week of high school and he was already bored out of his skull. He forgot how exhausting Piedmont was. School clubs, homework, tests, being well… </span>
  <em>
    <span>normal</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Dipper and Mabel still haven’t gotten around to explaining Weirdmageddon to their parents. He managed to convince Mabel from holding off on telling her friends. If their parents knew the truth he knew they’d ban them from seeing Grunkle Ford and Grunkle Stan ever again. Just as his english teacher was going to drone on longer about Shakespare, someone knocked on the classroom door. “Ah class,” Mrs. Sharp said snapping her book shut. The students around Dipper literally breathed sighs of relief. “We’ve got a new transfer student joining our class today.” His classmates turned to look at the door, but Dipper kept his head down. He was already labeled as a freak, it wouldn’t do the new kid any good if they got lumped in with him. “Pacifica, would you like to say a few words?” Mrs. Sharp asked. Dipper’s head snapped up. </span>
  <em>
    <span>No way, no possible way</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Dipper thought. There she was though, in the flesh. With a nod Pacifica introduced herself,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi, my name’s Pacifica Northwest.” Someone wolf whistled at her. Dipper slid his chair back, ready to defend his friend. Pacifica beat him too though. Narrowing her eyes in the direction the whistle came from. “Is slut shaming a normal thing at this school Dipper?” Pacifica asked, not taking her glare away from the now cowering jock. Dipper shrugged,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I guess. People here aren’t as sophisticated as they are in Gravity Falls.” The dude behind Dipper kicked his chair forward. Dipper grunted, as his chest got shoved against the desk. Pacifica grinned,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good. Then I can start my shit list early,” she said crossing her arms. Mrs. Sharp looked between Dipper and Pacifica.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you two know each other?” Mrs. Sharp asked, Dipper nodded,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. We met when I visited my Great Uncle over the summer.” Mrs. Sharp pointed to the empty seat beside Dipper,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Miss. Northwest can sit next to you then. Catch her up on coursework this weekend alright? Let me know if you two need anything.” Dipper nodded then Mrs. Sharp continued droning on about Shakespeare. Leaning across the desk Dipper whispered,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing here?” Pacifica shrugged,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“After Weirdmageddon my family lost all our money. I remembered you and Mabel saying you lived here so my parents moved us to Piedmont.” Dipper grinned, and for the first time since Weirdmageddon he felt a flicker of light keep his inner demons at bay.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well I’m glad you’re here. I thought this year was going to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>boring</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Pacifica grinned back at him and pulled out her notebook. Fifteen minutes later the shrill ring of the bell jarred Dipper out of his thoughts. Throwing his stuff in his backpack Dipper slung both his and Pacifica’s over his shoulders.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And here I thought chivalry was dead,” Pacifica teased as he helped her find her locker. Dipper showed her how the combinations worked then helped her put her textbooks away. He winced when he reached up to the higher shelf. “Dipper, you okay?” She asked as he grabbed his left arm and winced. Dipper nodded,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, just you know a gift from a flying demon dorito…” Pacifica softened her expression,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I know.” After a moment of hesitation she wondered, “did you get it looked at?” Dipper hesitated and she knew the truth. Sighing she scolded, “Dipper, it might heal the wrong way.” Dipper frowned and crossed his arms then leaned against the locker next to hers. He hummed in response,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not broken, I’ll be fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Pacifica?!” A shrill voice squealed, making Dipper jump in response. Mabel raced around the corner and squeezed Pacifica in one of her signature bone-crushing hugs. Pacifica laughed,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi Mabel,” she said, returning Mabel’s hug with viper-like strength. Mabel grinned,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We were going to go check out this old haunted house after school, wanna come with? I made sweaters!” Dipper gave Pacifica a shrug,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s the only interesting thing in this boring town.” Suddenly someone slung an arm around Dipper’s back. Paranoia from Weirdmageddon rushed to the forefront of Dipper’s mind and he pushed whoever it was up against a locker. Mabel and Pacifica stood behind him, ready to fight the threat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah Dipper, it’s just me!” The kid said, voice rushed. The rush of panic suddenly gone, Dipper realized he had one of his pre-Gravity Falls friends pushed up against Pacifica’s locker. With a shaky breath he let Jake go. “Dude, you okay?” Jake asked Dipper. Mabel spoke up for him,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re fine Jake! Sorry about that, we took boxing lessons over the summer. Learned some pretty cool tricks if I do say so myself.” Pacifica pressed a comforting hand against Dipper’s back. Jake’s eyes lit up,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That sounds so cool! Hey Dip, no hard feeling right?” He asked, reaching out a hand. Pacifica nudged Dipper forward and he shook it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No hard feelings,” Dipper said with a nod. Unfortunately the gym coach saw Dipper shove Jake into the lockers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Pines!” Coach Kod shouted from down the hallway. Dipper winced, “this school has a no-bullying policy. You just earned yourself detention after school today!” Jake gave Dipper a sympathetic smile then addressed Coach Kod,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s alright coach. I just surprised him.” Jake said, trying to justify Dipper’s actions. The coach wasn’t having it though. Mabel tried to defend Dipper, along with Pacifica.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sir,” Pacifica winced, then corrected herself, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>coach</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Jake and Dipper are friends. Besides, from what Dipper told me over the summer </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> was usually on the receiving end of getting bullied.” Beside her Mabel nodded and crossed her arms,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah! My bro bro wouldn’t hurt anyone.” Coach Kod looked between the three of them, then glanced at Jake. Dipper winced in sympathy at the now-forming bruise on Jake’s collarbone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Even so, Piedmont High has a zero tolerance against physical altercations of any kind. You and your friend will be joining mister Pines in detention as well. That’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>final</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Coach Kod stressed. With the matter resolved he returned to the gym.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With Pacifica now in most of his classes, the rest of Dipper’s day flew by. They managed to get into the same group for the history project, and they made sure to sit at the same lab table during biology. The two classes Dipper </span>
  <em>
    <span>didn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> share with Pacifica or Mabel still went by a lot faster than english. The text stream the three of them created kept going off non-stop the entire day. Finally, with the last period bell ringing Dipper shoved his way through the sea of students. Turns out his bony elbows were great for cutting through groups of kids who held up the hallway traffic. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Take that Grunkle Stan! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Dipper thought with a grin as he saw Mabel already at her locker, located directly next to his. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Bony elbows one, student body zero!</span>
  </em>
  <span> “Hey,” Dipper said with a wave as he approached Mabel. She smiled back at him then opened his locker for him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So Pacifica…” she said, taking their opportunity alone to discuss the elephant in the air. Dipper shrugged,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re cool now I guess.” He put away some of his textbooks. When he shut his locker door he was met with Mabel, a look of disbelief clear on her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dipper, this is Pacifica </span>
  <em>
    <span>Northwest</span>
  </em>
  <span> we’re talking about here. She tried to make our lives miserable for two whole summers!” Dipper rolled his eyes and shut Mabel’s locker for her,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s different Mabel, better. We’re all different now…” he trailed off, leaving Weirdmageddon better off not spoken. The air between them grew heavier as they entered the detention classroom, Pacifica was already there, sitting in the supervisor’s desk. Mabel gave her a small wave,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi Pacifica,” she said quietly. Pacifica nodded in response,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi Mabel, Dipper.” She paused then continued, “so, tell me about this haunted house. Are the ghosts real or is it just superstition?” Pacifica lowered her feet from on the supervisor’s desk. Dipper shrugged then lowered his bag onto a chair.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Beats me, I was never given the chance to check it out before. A few professional ghost hunters have tried to find stuff but they were always out of luck.” He pulled out a UV light and his own journal. Even before Weirdmageddon Dipper had been itching to start his own versions of Ford’s journals.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So what makes you think there might be something there?” Pacifica asked from the desk as Mabel peered over his shoulder with wide eyes. Dipper shrugged as he flipped through the pages,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think the professionals didn’t know what to look for.” In the corner a stoner scoffed,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please, all those ghost stories are fake. Nothing here but humans and animals.” Pacifica shot the stoner a glare. Dipper ignored him and continued to read through their previous adventures. The door opened and Coach Kod walked into the room with a tank top on and towel around his neck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright delinquents!” Coach shouted, Pacifica snuck out of the desk chair before he saw her. “One hour of detention starts now!” Dipper groaned when Coach Kod shut his laptop and took it away. “No technology, read a book or something.” Coach said as he threw Dipper’s laptop into a desk drawer. Dipper shuddered when he heard it clatter in the metal compartment. The first agonizingly long fifteen minutes passed then someone from the office opened the door with a green note in his hand. Reading the note the man said,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The Pines siblings are needed in the office. A distant relative of yours needs your help.” Dipper grinned,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stan and Ford!” He exclaimed at the same time as Mabel. The guy shrugged,</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“I don’t know kid, I’m just the messenger. They’re in the office waiting to pick you up.” Mabel and Dipper high fived each other. Stealing his computer back from Coach Kod, Dipper could barely hold back from sprinting to the office, with Mabel close on his heels. When they approached the office though, through the windows Dipper didn’t see their pair of Grunkles. Instead, he saw a group of four people and a great dane. Holding out his arm Mabel fell on the ground with a hard </span>
  <em>
    <span>thud.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey!” She protested as she tried to get past Dipper, “what’s the big idea?” Dipper pulled her aside, out of sight from the windows. Explaining he said,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think those people are with our Grunkles Mabel. They looked </span>
  <em>
    <span>shifty</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” He said whispering the word conspiratorially. Mabel scoffed,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh please, you think everyone looks shifty. I’m sure they’re nice people.” Mabel peered around the corner and gasped. In complete awe she said, “they have a </span>
  <em>
    <span>dog</span>
  </em>
  <span> Dipper!” Knowing when his battle is lost, Dipper followed Mabel across the hall to the front office. Once in the room Mabel made a beeline for the dog, who seemed to bask in the sudden love and affection. The hippie standing next to the dog laughed,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like Scoob, she likes you!” The woman with shockingly orange hair waved to Dipper. With a smile she said,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi Dipper, I’m your Aunt Daphne. I need your help.” Mabel squealed as the dog started licking her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Accepted! We get to play with the dog right?” Mabel asked as she rubbed the great dane’s stomach. The guy in the ascot smiled kindly, but it didn’t seem to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>real.</span>
  </em>
  <span> His eyes seemed haunted, like there was a double meaning to ‘Aunt Daphne’s’ request. Glancing at Mabel Dipper could easily tell she was getting emotionally attached to the mutt. Looking around the group he saw the same haunted look in their eyes that he saw whenever he looked in the mirror. Caving Dipper signed the student release forms that the receptionist had attached to a clipboard.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course you can!” The woman in an orange long shirt and red skirt said. Mabel grinned and wrapped her arms around the dog. Dipper signed for Mabel then handed the forms back to the receptionist.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Everything seems to be in place,” she said thumbing through the small stack of pictures. Turning to Dipper she peered through her owl-like eyeglasses and said, “you’ll still have to make up your remaining detention hours.” Dipper nodded,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know.” Waving them off the receptionist said,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Carry on. We’ll see you back in school on Monday, yes?” Dipper nodded, then repositioned his backpack.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t miss a day,” he said with a hint of sarcasm.” Mabel made conversation with the hippie man as they walked out of the school. Dipper’s phone buzzed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Pacifica to Dipper: What happened to you two?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After stealing a glance at the woman named Daphne, Dipper sighed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Dipper to Pacifica: Don’t really know yet. Got kidnapped by four people and their dog. Something weird’s going on. I’ll text you when I have more info.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dipper froze when they approached the retro-colored van. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Bill’s cackling laughter echoed through his mind. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The image of Gravity Falls losing Weirdmageddon flashed across his vision. Mabel trapped in her bubble, the chains wrapped tightly around the shooting star. Someone’s hand slipped into his and he was drawn back into the present. Mabel squeezed his hand, “bro bro, we’ll be okay.” She said. Dipper breathed slowly, focusing on the present, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> Weirdmageddon. With a shaky laugh he hugged her,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks Mabel.” He said, she returned his hug,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course bro bro. Now, let’s go see what our mysterious Aunt Daphne needs help with!”</span>
</p>
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